If not, then as soon as all is over ,” and Prince Vasíli sighed to intimate what he meant by the words all is over , “and the count’s papers are opened, the will and letter will be delivered to the Emperor, and the petition will certainly be granted.
— from War and Peace by Tolstoy, Leo, graf

I know not whether in individual cases it is easier to discover one rather than the other; but I am quite certain that, as far as nations are concerned, we must assume that there will be those who misuse their philosophy without religion, just as our people misuse their religion without philosophy, and that seems to put quite a different face upon the matter.]—Bayle has proved very satisfactorily that fanaticism is more harmful than atheism, and that cannot be denied; but what he has not taken the trouble to say, though it is none the less true, is this: Fanaticism, though cruel and bloodthirsty, is still a great and powerful passion, which stirs the heart of man, teaching him to despise death, and giving him an enormous motive power, which only needs to be guided rightly to produce the noblest virtues; while irreligion, and the argumentative philosophic spirit generally, on the other hand, assaults the life and enfeebles it, degrades the soul, concentrates all the passions in the basest self-interest, in the meanness of the human self; thus it saps unnoticed the very foundations of all society, for what is common to all these private interests is so small that it will never outweigh their opposing interests.—If atheism does not lead to bloodshed, it is less from love of peace than from indifference to what is good; as if it mattered little what happened to others, provided the sage remained undisturbed in his study.
— from Emile by Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Most marine animals have a wide range; and we have seen that with plants it is those which have the widest range, that oftenest present varieties, so that, with shells and other marine animals, it is probable that those which had the widest range, far exceeding the limits of the known geological formations in Europe, have oftenest given rise, first to local varieties and ultimately to new species; and this again would greatly lessen the chance of our being able to trace the stages of transition in any one geological formation.
— from The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection Or, the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life, 6th Edition by Charles Darwin

A sort of generic or Pantheistic vitality seemed to lurk in their very joints and bones, after what might be called the individual life had departed.
— from Moby Dick; Or, The Whale by Herman Melville

They found this Sloop more for their Purpose than the Lucretia , to clean their own Sloop by, as being much lower in the Wast, and therefore capable of heaving her Bottom farther out of the Water, so she was discharged, and the Dutch Man kept in her Room; but not thinking it convenient to lay up here, for fear a discovery should be made, they turned their Thoughts another Way, and steered to the Coast of Jamaica , where they took a Sugar Drover, and then run to the Grand Caimanes , about 30 Leagues to Leeward of Jamaica , with Intention to clean there; but an unhappy Accident put an End to their Pyracies, which hitherto had proved very successful to them.
— from A General History of the Pyrates: from their first rise and settlement in the island of Providence, to the present time by Daniel Defoe

Gregorius Magnus, petenti Augustino nunquid apud [1336] Britannos hujusmodi concubitum toleraret, severe prohibuit viris suis tum misceri foeminas in consuetis suis menstruis , &c. I spare to English this which I have said.
— from The Anatomy of Melancholy by Robert Burton

For the royal jewellers will require the Rainbow Pearl very soon to fix it in its place in the crown for the coronation ceremony, and if that thing his Majesty holds is offered to them, how long, think you, will it be before all Mauravania knows that it is an imitation?
— from Cleek: the Man of the Forty Faces by Thomas W. Hanshew

"Come, my poor Vauguyon," said the king, pointing to a foot-stool in the light, while he would be in the shade, "pray be seated, without any to-do."
— from Balsamo, the Magician; or, The Memoirs of a Physician by Alexandre Dumas

When we speak of the struggle for existence, the popular view seems to construe this into the theory that the world is a mere cockpit, in which one race carries on an interminable struggle with the other.
— from Social Rights And Duties: Addresses to Ethical Societies. Vol 1 [of 2] by Leslie Stephen

Some of the "raw midshipmen and unlearned naval officers" of whom Dr. Abbott speaks, in terms which he certainly did not find in my "autobiography," are, I am glad to say, still alive, and are performing, or have performed, valuable services to their country.
— from Life and Letters of Thomas Henry Huxley — Volume 3 by Thomas Henry Huxley

Europe had no other hope for peace; for wherever there exists a great number of various, opposite, and all powerful elements, a regulating action is necessary to prevent violent shocks, to calm excessive ardor, to moderate the rapidity of motion, to prevent a continual war, which would necessarily lead to destruction and chaos.
— from Protestantism and Catholicity compared in their effects on the civilization of Europe by Jaime Luciano Balmes

Brought before the tribunal of public opinion as a traitor who, though enrolled under the banners of the Church of England, was giving help and comfort to its foe, the Church of Rome, he has published a remarkable book under the title of “Apologia pro vita sua,” to exculpate himself.
— from Fifty Years in the Church of Rome by Charles Paschal Telesphore Chiniquy

The principal virtue supposed to be possessed by the Lia Fail was that it would bring political power to the country in which it was, particularly if its people were of Celtic stock.
— from Beauties and Antiquities of Ireland Being a Tourist's Guide to Its Most Beautiful Scenery & an Archæologist's Manual for Its Most Interesting Ruins by Thomas O’Neill Russell

If this is true, it must be evident that excessive sexual indulgence or masturbation can draw away from the system this precious vital substance that is necessary to produce or maintain the virility.
— from The Biology, Physiology and Sociology of Reproduction Also Sexual Hygiene with Special Reference to the Male by Winfield Scott Hall

From the Geometrical period onwards the manufacture of painted vases seems to have been continued intermittently in Boeotia down to the fourth century.
— from History of Ancient Pottery: Greek, Etruscan, and Roman. Volume 1 (of 2) by H. B. (Henry Beauchamp) Walters